New Sugarbush Directory

[BryanEx]

May search sights use a radius search. Such as within 20, or 30, or 40 miles of the searchers location. Can you set up your search criteria that way, even across borders? If possible I would think that would be the best way.

That was vtmaplemaker's suggestion too and a good one. It will be done but not in time for my January 1 launch date given the work and expenses involved. Once I have the directory filled with links I'll start work on that section alone beause it means working with HUGE databases. It will easily work across State borders but Canada / US will be a little trickier due to the postal / zip formats being different. I'll get the site working... then make it better.

[jcb]

Alrighty... been researching this issue and it seems it will be a little larger task than I had anticipated due to having to have every single US zip code AND Canadian postal code in a database along with latitude and longitude for each AND programming to figure out distances AND still integrate it into the rest of the link list database. Total cost will be anywhere between $200 and $600 to pull it off but I'm still going ahead with it because I believe in this idea but I don't think I will have that part finished until the end of January (don't quote me on that because it depends on my household budget).

Another question... I want to have simple check boxes available for when a sugarmaker submits a new link so they can just check off their facility attractions to display in their listing automatically. What are the common "selling points" to customers? So far I have the following;

• Restaurant
• Gift shop
• Sleigh rides
• Event hosting

What else should be added to that list of options that is common at sugarbushes?

Wood fired, Oil or Gas Some people love to see that fire.

[Farmboy]

Go on mass maple produces associations website. It has a list of different things like wood or oil fired, if they sell wholesale, and many other things. Take a look at it.

[BryanEx]

I decided to drop everything except the maple business name, web site address, web site description, and a preview of the main page. I had forgotten that last time I developed a directory like this the more I tried to categorize things the more often things would not fit into my formatted categories and often the information simply isn't available from the web site. I decided instead to "Keep It Simple Stupid" and let each individual web site do it's own selling. I'm just looking at gathering and dispersing Internet traffic to each site of interest to the consumer or maple producer. I will be adding a distance search in the future but I have pages and pages of links to add first to make it a true directory. On that note, I'm really surprised that not a single person has added their own site. So far the only listings are the ones I've added and I could use some testing of the Submit Link process to make sure everything works correctly.

I have bookmarked every single maple-related homepage listed on profile pages here on Maple Trader so I can add them into the directory but I really encourage people to write their own listing. Please see the "Webmaster" and "Maple News" sections on www.Sugarbush.Info for more information.

Once again, thanks for everyone's feedback and the supportive email I've been getting!

[red maples]

good work!!! I love it. I can do a little bit with computers but that looks like alot of work into it so far. I usually learn on stuff as I go. I did my website my self. it just takes me a little longer to get things done. once I figure out how to do them and the web masters at godaddy have been a big help too.

[Sugarmaker]

BryanEX,
Looks very nice! I will have to get you some words to go with the web link.
Thanks for your efforts.
Should be a nice site for folks to find maple products and events related to maple.
Regards,
Chris

[BryanEx]

good work!!! I love it. I can do a little bit with computers but that looks like alot of work into it so far.

Once I had the brainstorming done, which Maple Traders helped out with in another thread, I've got about three full weekends worth of work into it so far. Now comes the tedious process of adding links. My goal is to have 500+ links before the start of the maple season so that Sugarbush.Info truly is an North American directory

BryanEX,
Looks very nice! I will have to get you some words to go with the web link.

Thank you Chris and I welcome you (and everyone else) to send me your own description for your web site. Adding each link is pretty quick and easy for me but writing the descriptions for each is a huge challenge and very time consuming. The best I can do is to use some text from each site but many sites don't include much I can use from their home or about us pages. Right now I'm getting through about 20 new links each week night and a few hundred over a weekend.

Congratulations and thank you to Double Diamond Sugar House! I'm not sure what the user name is here on Maple Trader but Double Diamond is the first and only sugar maker to submit their own web site. Much appreciated!

[jcb]

Thanks for adding my website to your page. How do I add a picture next to it?

Keep up all your hard work it looks great

J

[BryanEx]

Thanks for adding my website to your page. How do I add a picture next to it?

Keep up all your hard work it looks great

J

Thanks very much jcb and it's my pleasure to contribute in some way to all maple producers.

The picture you are asking about is actually a small screen shot of each web site's main (home) page. It's automatically provided by a company called thumbshots.org. They offer various packages ranging from free to $1000.00/month to provide the service to any web site that wants it. Right now while Sugarbush.Info is not officially open and I'm still adding links I'm running on the free service. Once the site is up and running in January, I will subscribe to the $20/month plan but only during the sugarin season. During the off-season I will revert back to the free service.

The main difference between the free service and paid is how fast they add new sites to their database. With the free service it may take a month or longer if you are not already in their database but with the paid service it's less than 48 hours. My plan is to get as many links added by January 1 (500+) , then upgrade to the paid service for the season. Once the sap has stopped running everywhere I will downgrade back to the free service. By then everyone's site will be included in the screen captures. If you want you can pay 99 cents and have your web site screen capture done within an hour regardless of what service Sugarbush.Info is using but I can't say as I'd recommend bothering with it. Just hang tight until the first week of January to see how it goes. Right now Maple Trader is the only place people can view the site by using the link in my signature line below.

I hope that makes sense and if you plan on making changes to your web site now is the time to do it.

[maplefrank]

thanks for adding Pleasant Valley Maples.........